Rosh Hashanah 2009 Starts on September 18 (Jewish New Year 2009)

Rosh Hashanah 2009 starts at sundown on September 18. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, and literally translates to "Head of the Year". Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) falls this year on September 18 and 19, and is the first of the High Holy Days, followed by Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), which takes place seven days later. (Get your Rosh Hashanah dinner recipes ready, if you haven't already) So say Shana Tova (Happy New Year in Hebrew) to your Jewish friends. Say it to your non-Jewish friends, too.

These days, and the days in between, are the Ten Days of Repentance, after which that year's chapter in the Book of Life is closed forever.  And so will begin the  the month of Tishrei in the Hebrew year 5770. Yeah, Judaism's pretty old.

A key symbol of Rosh Hashanah is the Shofar, a ram's horn that is blown at key points in the Rosh Hashana synagogue service. (Yes, keen movie fans will note that Harold and Kumar's Jewish friends use a Shofar as a bong in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle; this is not standard Jewish practice, however)

Rosh Hashanah is treated as a day of rest, with the same observances of Shabbat (Sabbath). Though North American schools don't get Rosh Hashanah as a day off, observant families sometimes pull their kids out of school, but then the kids have to go to synagogue, so it's not really a day off.

If you're a Jewish mom, you've probably already started preparing dinner, so here's a honey cake recipe, courtesy of the nice folks at the Seattle P-I. Also, if you're looking for a brisket recipe, I actually don't know one, but About.com's got your back.